A2*Uricm»r EWming, Saturday, Hatch 26. 1994
(Continued from Pag* A 1)
study, is still wide open for new
findings.
As a practice, pasturing is closer
to a form of art, and in the end may
require more mental energy and
attention than more widely prac
ticed methods of livestock
production.
On Tuesday, during an all-day
seminar of pasturing held in a
meeting room at the Farm Show
building in Harrisburg, four pro
fessional agronomic experts work
ing for Penn State University or the
USDA provided a basic framew
ork for understanding the basics of
pasturing.
In addition, two dairymen who
practice pasturing as a controlled
form of supplemental feeding of
cattle, presented their views and
opinions on the practice and how it
fits into their individual opera
tions. They were Forrest Strieker,
of Berks County, who has milks
about 60 Holsteins and has been
pasturing for a year to provide
fresh forages, and Tom Williams
of Dauphin County, who has been
pasturing his Jersey herd for eight
years.
If anything was concluded at the
end of the seminar, it was that pas
turing has the potential to reduce
overhead costs in a number of
areas of animal husbandry, and
raise net gain, but the extent to
which the practice can be used is
farm and farmer specific.
The seminar was sponsored
jointly by the Penn State Universi
ty Extension, the USDA Soil Con
servation Service, and the Pen
nsylvania Forage and Grassland
Council.
Speakers included Paul Craig,
an agronomist who serves as Dau
phin County Extension agent; Dr.
Marvin Hall, an assistant professor
and forage agronomist at Penn
State University; Dr. Jerry Jung, a
senior researcher with die USDA
Pasture Research Laboratory at
State College; and Duane Pysher, a
grassland management specialist
with the USDA Soil and Conserva
tion Service, in Harrisburg.
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Experts: Pasturing Is Agronomic Art
Craig began the seminar with a
talk stating that his specialty is the
agronomics of soils and crop pro
duction and how he and Fisher,
after attending one of several other
grazing seminars offered to far
mers over the course of the past
several years, decided to focus on
the basics of forage production in
pastures, such as considering soil
fertility and weed control.
Of the estimated 100 people
who attended the seminar, about a
dozen indicated they already prac
tice pasturing as a part of their
operation. Attendees came from
all over the state and Maryland.
And while the seminar wasn’t
intended to focus on any specific
livestock production, the most
common use and interest of pastur
ing locally has been in the daily
industry.
Craig said that in checking with
the Pennsylvania Agricultural Sta
tistics Service, there are about I.S
million acres in pasture in Pennsyl
vania. About 800,000 acres of that
is classified as suitable for crop
land. Another 400,000 acres are
suitable for nothing but pasture,
and the remainder is classified as
woodland.
About half of the acres consid
ered pasture are not being maxim
ized for production, he said.
Craig said that poor soil fertility,
weed problems and erosion are
some of the major concerns with
pastures, but it’s a Catch-22, he
said. Poo* soil fertility leads to
weed problems, which leads to
poor ground cover, which leads to
erosion, which leads to poor soil
fertility, etc.
The way to break the cycle is to
understand the components of the
pasture, and possible components
of a pasture, before entering into a
serious program of using pasture
forages as a dependable source of
nutrition for livestock.
“If there is one thing you could
do, it is to put a fence down the
middle (of a pasture) and flip
flop,” 4>e said.
“I see fanners who know how to
(Turn to Pag* A 29)
Pressure
From the left, epeakere at a pasturing seminar are Or. Marvin Hall, PSU assistant
professor and forage agronomist; Dr. Jerry Jung, senior researcher with the USDA
Pasture Research Lab at State College; Duane Pysher, grassland management spe
cialist with the USDA Soil Conservation Service; and Paul Craig, Dauphin County
Extension agent.
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